1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telephone systems and more particularly to a method and apparatus for an automatic ring again feature for a telephone line shared by multiple devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is often common for a number of telephone sets to be connected in parallel to the same telephone line. For example, in many residential homes, telephone sets are located in several rooms, such as for example one or more bedrooms, the kitchen, family room, den, etc. FIG. 1 illustrates in block diagram form a plurality of devices, such as for example telephone sets 20a, 20b, . . . 20n, sharing a single telephone line 22. Each of the telephone sets 20a–20n is connected in parallel to a single telephone line 22 via a junction box 24 to the Central Office 26 (CO) of the telephone company. The telephone installation illustrated is typical of a multiple extension system in a private household or small business. While three telephone sets are illustrated, the number of telephone sets connected to junction box 24 is not so limited.
If there are several users of the telephone line, often times the person who answers a telephone call is not the intended party. The person who answered the call then has to track down the intended party within the house, or alternatively, take a message which may never be received by the intended party. In some instances, the person who answered will ask the caller to call back at a later time, much to the caller's dismay.
One solution to this problem is to have a separate telephone line for each user within the house. In this way, a call can be directed to a specific user, and other residents of the household will know for whom the call is intended based on which telephone set is ringing. However, this solution has several disadvantages due to the significant cost to install several individual telephone lines, the wiring requirements inside any established building, and the cost associated with operation of several individual telephone lines.
Another solution is through the use of CallerID. CallerID can minimize the occurrence of the problem by letting a user know the origin of the phone call before it is answered. Thus, if a user sees that the call is not for him based on the CallerID information, he will not answer it. However, not all phones are equipped with CallerID boxes, and the CallerID does not always give sufficient information to determine exactly for whom the call is intended.
Thus, there exists a need for an apparatus and method that allows a user that has answered an incoming telephone call not intended for him to have the phones in the house ring again so a different user or an answering device can answer the call.